Guide of recommendations
How to manage diversity in education, labor market and health?
Program RecerCaixa 2011
Focus on International Migration nº 3
How to manage diversity in education, labor market and health?
Research project: RECERCAIXA. Youth in immigrant families in Catalonia: interculturality management for social cohesion (2012-2014)
RecerCaixa Program. RecerCaixa 2011
Principal investigator: Dra. Carlota Solé i Puig (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) Research team: Dra. Rosalina Alcalde, Dra. Beatriz Ballestin, Dra. Silvia Carrasco, Dra. Marta Bertrán, Dra. Ainhoa Flecha, Sra. Cristina Hernando, Dr. Jordi Pàmies, Dra. Sònia Parella, Dra. Alisa Petroff, Dra. Maribel Ponferrada, Dra. Núria Roca, Dra. Olga Serradell, Dra. Teresa Sordé and Sra. Carme Vega
Field work team: Jennifer Márquez, Óscar Segura and Marina Girona
Focus on international migration és una col·lecció d’accés obert promoguda i coordinada pel CER-Migracions de la UAB, centre de recerca interdisciplinària per a l’estudi de les migracions internacionals. L’objectiu de la col·lecció és consolidar un espai online de divulgació acadèmica que permeti fer arribar a la comunitat científica i al públic general interessat, treballs inèdits indi- viduals i col·lectius que suposin rellevants aportacions teòriques, empíriques i/o metodològiques per a l’estudi de les migracions internacionals.
Focus on international migration es una colección de acceso abierto promovida y coordinada por el CER-Migracions de la UAB, centro de investigación interdisciplinar para el estudio de las migraciones internacionales. El objetivo de la colección es consolidar un espacio online de divulgación académica que permita hacer llegar a la comunidad científica y al público general in- teresado, trabajos inéditos individuales y colectivos que supongan relevantes aportaciones teóricas, empíricas y/o metodológicas para el estudio de las migraciones internacionales.
Focus on international migration is an open access collection promoted and coordinated by CER-Migracions (UAB), interdis- ciplinary research center for international migration study. The main aim of the collection is to consolidate an online resource for dissemination of relevant individual and collective works to the academic community and the wider public. The collection will include relevant theoretical, empirical and/or methodological contributions for the study of international migrations.
Focus on international migration est une collection d’accès libre promue et coordonnée par le CER-Migracions de l’UAB, centre de recherche interdisciplinaire spécialisé dans l’étude des migrations internationales. La collection a pour mission de renforcer un espace en ligne de divulgation académique à la communauté scientifique et à tout public intéressé, des ouvrages inédits, individuels et collectifs, qui impliquent des contributions importantes au niveau théorique, empirique et/ou méthodo- logique concernant l’étude des migrations internationales.
Editorial Committee:
Dra. Carlota Solé (CER-Migracions, UAB) Dra. Sílvia Carrasco (CER-Migracions, UAB) Dra. Marta Bertran (CER-Migracions, UAB) Dr. Jordi Pàmies (CER-Migracions, UAB) Dra. Sònia Parella (CER-Migracions, UAB) Dra. Teresa Sordé (CER-Migracions, UAB)
For additional inquires and/or submission of proposals, send an email to: cr.migracions@uab.cat
Focus on International Migration nº 3
Guide of recommendations. How to manage diversity in education, labor market and health?
©del texto: CER-Migracions (UAB)
©de la ilustración de la cubierta: Kartik Malik
Diseño y maquetación:
Joan Buxó Edición:
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona CER MIGRACIONS / Servei de Publicacions
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ISBN 978-84-490-6285-8
FOCUS ON INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION está sujeto a una licencia de uso Creative Commons:
Reconocimiento – No Comercial – Sin Obra Derivada (by-nc-nd): No se permite un uso comercial de la obra original ni la generación de obras derivadas.
To all those persons, professionals, youths and associations that have par- ticipated in the project during these years, providing both their personal and institutional experience.
Our acknowledgments to people, organizations, and associations that have participated in both the field work and the participatory workshops held at the municipalities where the work field has been carried out, con- tributing to the present guide of recommendations.
Additionally, we want to give a special thanks to the Social Services of El Vendrell and Basic Services of Social Care of Badalona for their dedication, collaboration and involvement to the project.
5
Contents
I. Presentation . . . 6 II. Strategies developed for youth in immigrant families . . . 8 III. Recommendations . . . 13
A team of researchers, part of the CER-Migra- cions and specialists in migration studies from a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds, has elaborated this guide of recommendations. The CER-Migrations is a research center of the UAB, founded in 2009 and focused on interdiscipli- nary research in international migrations. The guide is oriented to public and private organi- zations, such as civil society organizations and, public administrations, more specifically to all those organizations and groups that represent the citizens of Catalonia. Its aim is to provide tools in order to promote the social cohesion among the Catalan youth.
The recommendations presented here are the result of a qualitative research car- ried out between 2012-2014, titled Youth in immigrant families in Catalonia: interculturality management for social cohesion. In this research,
‘life trajectories’ and ‘transition into adulthood’
have been studied involving young people aged between 18 and 25 years with familiar experi- ences of immigration, and with familiar origins
from Morocco, Romania and Ecuador. Three relevant fields in their life trajectories have been analyzed: education, labor market and health.
The analysis of the turning points of their trajectories, as well as the barriers and op- portunities they meet in their transition into adulthood, have allowed identifying the three lines of action that drive the recommendations.
Ultimately, these are orientations aimed to fos- ter successful educational trajectories, facili- tating to these youths the incorporation into the labor market and to maximize scenarios of access and satisfactory use of the information and health services. The goal is to foster that these youths advance towards their transition into adulthood on an equal basis, especially in a situation strongly marked by the economic, social and political crisis.
Furthermore, the present guide provides examples of good practices which promote so- cial cohesion and integration of young people from immigrant family background.
I. Presentation
Guide of recommendations. How to manage diversity in education, labor market and health?
7 This research has been developed by using a
set of techniques regarding data collection and analysis, such as the exploitation of secondary sources, focused interviews to experts and in-depth interviews to young people with im- migrant family experiences (Morocco, Roma- nian and Ecuadorian), in two municipalities:
Badalona and El Vendrell. These two localities were selected as they constitute models suffi- ciently different in size, productive structure, impact of the economic crisis, as well as diffe- rent migrant settlement patterns and policies oriented to immigrant populations. Both are municipalities with a significant settlement of population from non-EU countries where poli- cies oriented to social cohesion and integration of these collectives have been developed during the last decades.
In order to understand the political ac- tions of the two selected local administrations, 26 local professionals were interviewed work- ing in immigration and social, labor and health
insertion, as well as social workers and educa- tors.
On the other hand, with the purpose of studying life trajectories and transition path- ways to adulthood of youth with family expe- riences of immigration, 41 depth interviews were carried out to young people with family origins from Morocco, Romania and Ecuador, aged between 18 and 25 years and residents of Badalona and El Vendrell, who were born in Catalonia or had arrived with their parents be- fore the age of 14 years.
At the last stage of the research, two par- ticipative workshops were conducted in order to disseminate the results to technicians and professionals of the administration of the two localities, which allowed direct discussion about the meetings with regional agents involved in the management of diversity. The main conclu- sions of these workshops have been reflected in the present Guide.
Methodology and results of the research
During these two years of intensive research and interdisciplinary teamwork, it has been possible to identify specific actions that encou- rage the diversity management as a cross-cut- ting dimension in social policies. Thus, our re- search contributes to the social cohesion, pro- viding an analytical view to the life of theyouth from immigrant families, by identifying: key aspects for the achievement of successful edu- cational trajectories, their incorporation into the labor market, as well as a satisfactory access and use of the information and health services, with an special emphasis on sexual and repro- ductive health (SRH).
By youth from immigrant families, we refer to those youth who has been educated in the Catalan educational system, with educa- tional trajectories more or less long, depending on the age of arrival. At the time of the inter- view, most of the targeted population were en- rolled either into the university, or into higher or intermediate vocational trainingprograms.
Part of the sample dropped out of studying and others had done so during the economic growth, thanks to the facilities offered by the la- bor market in that moment. With the econom- ic recession, these young people had rejoined the educational system. Therefore, we are deal-
ing with educational trajectories very different with one another, with a variability that is also present among autochthonous youth.
Regarding the labor market, the immi- grant population has been strongly marked by the economic crisis, and more specifically the younger ones. Many interviewees combine work and studies, with the consequent difficul- ties that this entails. Some of them either study or work, and others are unemployed.
In the health field, the interviewed youths present very similar patterns to the rest of youths of the same age in Catalonia and the rest of Spain, regarding conducts, lifestyles and risky behaviors. In general, they are very well informed about how to look after their health and aware of methods for preventing sexually transmitted infections (STI) and SRH, though they do not always put them into practice.
Most of them enjoy good health, but occasion- ally some of them admit consuming excessively addictive substances, such as tobacco, alcohol or other drugs, or engage in sex without pro- tection, risky behaviors which could condition their future.
As a result of the research, the following individual and collective strategies developed by the interviewed youth have been identified:
II. Strategies developed for youth in
immigrant families
Guide of recommendations. How to manage diversity in education, labor market and health?
9 Youth give value to obtain academic qualificati-
ons to face their future employment.
A shared belief by these young people is giving credit to the education as an economic and labor integration tool, in order to avoid ex- ploitation and discrimination as well as relying on the educational investment as a guarantee of social mobility. The majority of the inter-
viewees consider absolutely necessary to ob- tain qualifications to have a minimal chance to enter the labor market, either in low-to-inter- mediate or highly skill job positions. It must be highlighted that those of them who are univer- sity students will be, after graduating, the first generation of their families that count on high- er education degrees.
The more qualifications, the better occupation
Combining studies and job:
an investment for the future
The job search process, often informal and using social networks (family and friends), allows many of the interviewees to continue or extend their educational qualifications, avoi- ding to prematurely give up the chance for bet- ter jobs in the future.
Traditionally, combining studies with job is a distinctive feature of the working class- es. Although this strategy cannot be gener- alized among the participants of the study, it appears to be an important part of their edu-
cational trajectories. Most young people who combine job and studies are doing so because of economic needs, rather than motivated by achieving emancipation. Their commitment to job is mostly subsidiary and complementary to the educational trajectory. Therefore, regard- less of how many hours they spend and regard- less of the job intensity, working is perceived as the means whereby they can study in family economic contexts that do not allow full time study.
I was studying for the baccalaureate in the evening, starting classes at half past five, and I was leaving work at five o’clock. Well, I had to go quickly to be at class, and I was always late to first class... but always. I also missed a lot at school because I worked many hours.
One month I was working 12 hours and, of course… I was leaving home… from 8 am to 8 pm… getting there at last hour, that is to say… I was missing 4 lessons [every day]. Tro- fink, 23 years.
The informal networks of family and friends and the internship opportunities of several educational organizations represent, for the interviewed people, key strategies for entering either the formal or the informal labor market.
Most youth are not familiar with the ex- isting institutional devices in finding a job or they manifest lack of trust regarding their effi- ciency; and those who used them in some way perceive them as useless. However, in some cases they recognize that these institutional devices can provide information about job of- fers. In the light of this situation, the studied youth use other alternative mechanisms to in- corporate into the labor market. These mech- anisms allow them to access their first jobs, although often on informal basis, such as serv- ing customers in a family commerce, caring for children or as seasonal workers in jobs related to hostelry. It is also remarkable the impor- tance of the professional internships for some of the studied trajectories. This is the case of Alejandro, 22 years old, who was hired for 3 months by a construction company where he carried out an internship as part of his voca- tional training degree.
Despite the current economic situation and its direct impact, we have identified a pos- itive predisposition among these young peo- ple towards entering the labor market. In this sense, they express some optimism about their future and many of them imagine themselves working in the middle term.
In five years I hope to be already working in a financial entity, I don’t know if banking, fi- nancial one or whichever. Yeah, working soon.
Maikel, 20 years.
If everything goes well, [I see myself] with work. Still studying… I don’t think so. If I stud- ied, perhaps it would be for two or three years more, but not longer. But with work, and hope- fully emancipated… I hope Paula, 21 years.
Thus, most part of the interviewees enter the labor market under informal, tem- porary and precarious conditions. Besides, they use and stay in touch with their contacts, hoping that they can be useful in the future in order to keep progressing in their professional careers.
To Get a Job : an experience that can count
Guide of recommendations. How to manage diversity in education, labor market and health?
11 The family migrant trajectory and the networks
(family and community members residents in other European countries) they count on, can become a work-related alternative for the po- pulation studied.
The intercultural and linguistic compe- tences developed because of their migratory background leads them to consider the possi- bility of shaping onward migrations as a viable strategy of employability, in the short or middle term. This intention is often accompanied by the availability of tangible and symbolic resourc- es, such as languages or relatives living abroad, which differentiate them from their peers.
In France, of course in France… I suppose that I will be working, won’t I? Because it is high time… The fact is that you can find a job very quickly in France, in the airport. I see my- self in the airport, there… in Check Out, you know? But I don’t know… Alegria, 20 years.
The onward migration and the return to Spain as strategies of job-searching
Healthy lifestyle:
be physically and mentally healthy
The participants in the study are males and fe- males who perceive themselves with good he- alth and having quite healthy lifestyles. They relate the concept of health to the absence of illnesses, being well, with no health problems, and being physically and mentally healthy.
Most of them believe it is necessary looking af- ter oneself to preserve good health by avoiding risky behaviors.
They state that a healthy person is some- one who practices some sport, eats healthily and takes precautions when having in sex.
Healthy is a person who knows to the tools of prevention and does not make excesses. E.g.
Adam is 22 years old and practices athletics:
he considers himself a healthy person because he practices some sport and neither smokes, drinks nor takes drugs. Others, like Stephania, take the following stand:
A healthy person is someone who neither drinks nor smokes; who doesn’t get anything into. Well, I drink when I go to parties, having one or two cubatas [mixed alcoholic drink], or three. And smoker, to be honest, sometimes…
never… perhaps from time to time I’m so glad and happy and I say “give me one” and that’s all… I don’t drink every day or all the week- ends. Stephania, 23 years.
The interviewees consider the following values as essential in theirstable relationships: res- pect, trust, friendship, love, companionship, responsibility, stability, sincerity, support, complicity and communication. Helping, liste- ning… as well as pace, love and having a happy family are also important to them.
In general, they share the idea that sta- ble and formal relationships should be between
“equals”, in the sense of equality between boys and girls, and that decisions should be made together through dialog. Both boys and girls admit that girls are more active in this process:
She decides. I let her lead me, Trofink 23 years.
I do the accounting because he is busy, and we women want to have everything controlled, Carla, 22 years.
They perceive their relationships are dif- ferent of those of their parents, though this as- pect is linked to the life span development and it will change over time, as they grow up. All of them value that nowadays there is more free- dom and so foster the beginning of relation- ships at a very young age.
Being together: a relationship between equals
Knowledge and use of health services
They are familiar with the general health ser- vices, mainly the primary care practice centers (CAP – Centro de Atención Primaria) and the regional Hospital, in an emergency. They use them whenever they need, mostly in case of illness and seldom for prevention. Generally speaking, according to their assessment they have not had problems after the entry in force of the new regulations and provisions regarding the access of immigrants to health care, nor do they know anyone who has encountered any difficulty because of this issue. Overall, their
experience as users is regarded as very positive.
Although they are familiar with the healthcare services and the health system, and also accor- ding to the data provided by the Public Health Agency (Agencia de Salud Pública, 2011), some young people part of our sample are not awa- re of specialized services, such as SRH centers (Sexual and Reproductive Health), and most of them do not usually use them. In fact, they rarely refer to the need for these services and resources. Whenever they know them, they use them; this is mainly the case of females.
Guide of recommendations. How to manage diversity in education, labor market and health?
13 To boost support programs and processes
of academic and professional orientation among youth and families in order to inform about opportunities offered by the several qualification and training options
• To recognize the support and value that immigrant families provide to education, in the frame of youths’ own projects, and boost, among families and youths, accom- panying processes of schooling and orienta- tion about the educational and professional current offer available. To consider, both the existence and scope of individual and famil- iar expectations, as well as the academic and labor opportunities offered by the several qualification and training options.
• To boost a systematic and deepened train- ing regarding awareness among educational
agents, focused on making visible condi- tions that foster success and educational continuity among youths of immigrant families, a context that questions school and social representations as well as exist- ing prejudices and preconceptions.
• To develop actions and training modalities that allow combining studies with work, one situation that appears in most educa- tional trajectories of youths of immigrant families. Become aware that this situation responds to economic needs of the family, rather than to emancipation reasons, and turns out to be auxiliary and complementa- ry to the educational trajectory.
• To offer economic supports and scholar- ships to youth in more vulnerable position, in order to boost successful educational tra-
III. Recommendations
As youths with family experiences of immigration consider training as an economic and labor integration tool, and the educational investment as a facilitator of social mobility, it is necessary to develop actions to support their trajectories
GUIDELINES
jectories and to fight the early exit from the educational system, the discourage- ment and the demotivation.
• To set up programs that, despite the budget cuts promoted by the public administra- tions and the decreasing number of school- ing support projects and educational servic- es, do not undermine their responsiveness or harden the conditions to access social benefits, reducing the opportunities of youth in immigrant families.
By way of example, some educational institutions have developed their own pro-
grams of economic and academic support.
Thus, Associació Amics del Fontseré (Friends Association of Fontseré) is an initiative launched by an educational institution with the purpose of providing financial support to youth who want to continue post-com- pulsory education (training cycles and bac- calaureate) and who cannot afford it due to economic limitations1.
1 For more information, see http://www.ieseduardfontsere.
net/2013/09/beques-amics-del-fontsere/
Regarding the impact of the school results, as the group of peers arises as an important element for the trajectories of all these youths, in both negative and positive terms, it is necessary to develop dynamics that promote the school link among the student body
GUIDELINES
Boosting processes which lead towards the accumulation of positive social capital and which promote pro-academic dynamics for group cohesion that facilitate the link with the school
• To make possible that school activities, for youth in immigrant families, take place in normalized environments, rather than in segregated spaces that in spite of being ap- parently built as safer and closer to their needs, evidence the need to perform an in- clusive response by the institution
• Educational institutions should take into account the potential impact of articulating organizational technologies. The education- al segregation at school through classifying class-groups by academic level, or the exist- ence of specific devices for attending stu- dents of foreign origin are factors that have a negative impact on their academic tra- jectories. Become aware, at school centers,
that segregating by educational levels can also become a barrier to maintain their friendship networks, negatively affecting the continuity of the relationship and the reification of stereotypes.
• To promote that the teaching staff, at the stage of both primary and secondary ed- ucation, provides reception and attend- ance to new students in a coordinated and comprehensive manner, beyond the tasks performed by tutors or teachers of specific attention.
• By way of example, name the project Companyia de Teatre of the Institut Pablo Ruiz Picasso2, an initiative that, from the ed- ucational center, aims to achieve a specific and rigorous work through the application of a multidisciplinary approach and added
2 For more information, see http://www.xtec.cat/iespicasso/teatre_
2007/traj.htm
Guide of recommendations. How to manage diversity in education, labor market and health?
15
Since a portion of unemployed youth corresponds to the profile of youths with low levels of qualifications achieved, who have remained outside of the educational and training systems, it is necessary to implement programs and actions that promote their job-placement and/or their return to the educational system
GUIDELINES
To set up programs and actions through the education and the employment training which reinforce not only the qualification of these youth, but also other basic and trans- versal competencies, as well as their motiva- tion, self-confidence and self esteem
• To encourage the coordination between institutions and local authorities with the purpose and effect of setting up stable de- vices that can identify youth who drop out of the education system prematurely, and offer, from a holistic approach, services and programs that meet the specific needs of each youth.
• To develop youth-oriented actions which can enhance the qualification and employ-
ability of those who are unemployed and have not finished the Obligatory Secondary Education (ESO). These actions should in- clude devices that offer professional certifi- cates and professional and emotional (moti- vation, self-esteem, etc.) resources:, in order to re-engage them in the formal training and/or increase their job-placement oppor- tunities.
By way of example, the program Suport Intensiu a la Inserció Laboral dels Joves (Inten- sive Support to the Job-Placement of Youth), driven by IMPO (Institut Municipal de Promoció de l’Ocupació)5, as well as the program Els Joves per l’Ocupació (Youths for Employment), implemented in El Vendrell
5 For more information, see http://www.impo.cat/
social and academic requirements – that serve as a guide for youths living in a con- text of social vulnerability.
• To boost networking among education- al NGOs from the region and encourage the use of public services available for the overall population , in the aim of enhancing pro-academic dynamics towards group co- hesion, out of school time, and promoting the school link among students of immi- grant origin.
By way of example, name the program formació i circ social de l’Ateneu Popular 9 barris3 (training and social circus) as well as the
3 For more information, see http://www.ateneu9b.net/content/lateneu- popular-de-nou-barris
project Teixint cultures: elaboració de contes bilingües d’arreu del món4 (Weaving cultures:
elaboration of bilingual tales from worldwide).
The first one is a proposal of artistic train- ing and education in values, aimed at trans- forming the person and their most imme- diate environment and addressed to youths of secondary education. The second one is a program based on the called dual-language experiences, well known in Canada as well as in numerous Anglo-Saxon countries, a program that seeks to recover the oral tra- dition of immigrant families.
4 For more information, see http://teixintcultures.wordpress.com/
projecte-teixint-cultures/origen-del-projecte/
by initiative of the Servei d’Ocupació de Catalunya (cofounded by the European So- cial Fund)6, combine training to boost the development of basic competences through professionalizing paths and internships.
• In the aim of enhancing the connection between employers and professional training, and improving the youth’s mo- tivation, we recommend to bring togeth- er (incorporate/ join forces with) part- ners from the business community who can assume an important part of the training stage. In the case of specific youth of immi- grant origin with certain profiles, the com-
6 For more information, see http://www.leina.org
mitment of entrepreneurs to this training is key for their later job-placement, mainly to overcome the discrimination of which they may be victims during the selection process.
By way of example, the initiative École de la 2ème chance (E2C) (School of the “Sec- ond Chance”)7, driven by the city council of Marsella in 1997, as a pilot program for the European Commission, retrieves the ap- prenticeship and reinforces the connection between entrepreneurs and professional training in the aim of re-engaging youth who dropped out the education system early.
7 More information of this experience is available at http://citiesofmigration.ca/good_idea/second-chance-school/
Many youth in immigrant families count on limited and little diversified social networks, which makes them difficult to access the labor market beyond those sectors where a large part of their parents’ generation had been concentrated (e.g. construction, hostelry, domestic service, etc.). Thus, theyalso perceive discrimination when opting for a job (especially those of Muslim descent). Therefore, it is necessary to innovate tools of social intervention, that promote relationships, in order to overcome these barriers
GUIDELINES
To boost the social and professional men- toring8 as an intervention tool that pro- vides individualized support to youth with exclusion risk and without enough net- work for finding a job, and who often have to cope with discrimination processes (for ethnical and religious reasons, etc.) when accessing a job
• To encourage, from the administrations, that SMEs becomes involved locally in men-
8 More information, documentation and bibliography about mentor- ing are available at http://www.mentoriasocial.org
toring projects to youth with social exclu- sion risk, which allow bringing them clos- er to the everyday work of a company, and thereby enhancing their self-esteem and motivating them to continue training and developing all their potential. The project
“CoachExit”, driven by the Fundació Exit, addressed to corporate volunteering of so- cially responsible companies, represents an example of this initiative9.
9 For more information, see http://www.fundacionexit.org/proyecto- coach/
Guide of recommendations. How to manage diversity in education, labor market and health?
17 To enhance the intercultural and linguistic
competencies of these youth, in the aim of extending their possibilities of employabil- ity and implementing programs of interna- tional projection on their own
• To promote the certification of languages spoken by the youths in order to be recogni- zed and valued in the professional context.
• The creation of information and/or advice services for youth with a project of emigra- tion, re-emigration or return to the country of origin. In this sense, by way of example, it is interesting to mention the application in the field of action that has had the SAI- ER, Servei d’Atenció a Immigrants, Emigrants i Refugiats (Care Service for Immigrants, Em- igrants and Refugees), one of the reference services in Barcelona for the reception of newcomers and the integration of immi- grant population. The “new” SAIER has embodied, within their service portfolio,
advice to the overall Barcelona population about emigration themes, in order to suit the current flows of mobility10.
• To train youth in immigrant families, with successful trajectories, to offer advice to other young people. This action would re- quire, at a local level, the establishment of orientation devices that draw upon the in- tercultural competencies of youth who have experienced migration processes in person or through their families and who have ac- quired a range of intercultural competencies related to their experience (joining a context that is linguistically, socially and culturally different). The role of trainerswould turn them into role models among other youth of immigrant origin and would help to re- duce their social stigmatization.
10 See the informative triptych at http://www.bcn.cat/novaciutadania/
pdf/saier/SAIER.fullet.ca-es.pdf
Since a part of youth in immigrant families consider the onward
migration as a strategy of personal developmet or even exclusively as a job search, and many of them can make use of their personal resources linked to their origin, as well as family and community resources abroad to which they have access to, it is necessary to give value to their intercultural competencies in order to be capitalized by them in a globalized world
GUIDELINES
• To incorporate professional internships in all the training and educational devices, in order to bring youth closer to the labor mar- ket, and foster the direct contact with busi- nesses, who are involved in their training, allows overcoming discrimination barriers.
• To boost actions that promote increased awareness, understanding and appreciation of the diversity management and the social inclusion within the labor market.
To boost health programs in the school, be- ginning with primary education, aimed at the prevention of risky behaviors related to substance use and the promotion of healthy lifestyles
• To provide cross-cutting/transversal train- ing in schools and high-schools regarding all the aspects related to health, nutrition, sport, sedentariness, etc., in order that chil- dren and adolescents integrate these prac- tices into their daily life and associate them to a good maintenance of health.
• To raise awareness of the consequences of substance use and risky behaviors, in gen- eral. In this regard, it is important to in- form and train children and youth about the harmful effects of drugs, as well as the consequences of their use in the middle and long term. It is important to highlight the risks to face the minimization they make of them.
• With the aim of avoiding unwanted preg- nancy and sexually transmitted diseases, to
inform and train about sexuality and sex- ual intercourse, since these appear at early age, and they are brief and often chained.
To train in protection measures and provide available material resources to youths.
• To train families, at both educational and health centers, about adolescents’ and chil- dren’s health, risky behaviors, and mental and psycho-emotional health. The partici- pation of families in the prevention of risky behaviors is important to foster dialog be- tween them and awareness among all.
• Early detection of cases that require specif- ic attention, regarding the emotional stress entailed by migration processes, toxic rela- tionships or use of substances.
• It is fundamental to establish coordinat- ing teams between health and educational centers in order to design programs, inter- ventions and evaluations, accordingly, and to foster the youths’ and teenagers’ partic- ipation in the design of activities aimed to them.
Although youths who participated in the research show a good health, it should be taken into account that risky behaviors are common.
Such practices occasionally or continuously performed are not
recognized as dangerous situations, as they believe that their impact is minimal. For this reason it is essential to implement programs and perform actions that promote healthy lifestyles
GUIDELINES
Guide of recommendations. How to manage diversity in education, labor market and health?
19 To provide sexual education since secondary
education, taking into account the cultural and intercultural diversity, as well as those aspects regarding stable relationships: affec- tion, respect, feelings, pleasure
• To educate about stable relationships from a vision that includes pleasure, feelings, emotions and affection, fostering commu- nication, respect and peer relationships, by developing transversal programs to prevent gender-based violence.
• To deploy specific programs to prevent pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Infec- tions (STI) by the proper use of contracep- tion methods, informing and training about the several contraception methods and pro- viding them.
• Specific training and sensitization about STI, specifically about HIV/AIDS, to eradi-
cate the social stigma that entails the dis- ease and all those affected by it.
• Coordination between all the NGOs in- volved in Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) and STI prevention, together with lo- cal institutions, to join efforts and generate synergies through the action, updating and customizing the local policies (interven- tions) regarding SRH and STI.
• To provide continuous training to profes- sionals of education by professionals of the health field in terms of preventing risky behaviors and fostering healthy relation- ships.
• Youth’s participation through the entire process of the provided programs: design, development and assessment. Moreover, to involve them actively in the preparation of the program’s materials.
As sexual intercourse has an early beginning, there are frequent
changes of partner and there is low perception of risk, it is necessary to train youths from early ages about the affection and the prevention in order to make them able to develop stable and sporadic relationships and sexual intercourse without risk
GUIDELINES
As centers specialized in Sexual and Reproductive Health are unknown and rarely used, it is necessary to design tools which ensure youth’s access and use of SRH resources
GUIDELINES
To establish and make visible public local resources, customized to youths’ needs and designed through their participation, which take into account the cultural diversity
• To design programs with participative and innovative methodologies to bring the SRH
near youths and teenagers, and that priori- tize prevention of STI and adolescent preg- nancy.
• To perform a direct attention to the youth, with flexible access and without the pres- ence of their parents, whenever youth re-
quire it, ensuring the continuous attention to those youths who need it.
• To derive to specialists when the situation requires so, with no waiting lists and with an effective communication between pro- fessionals that avoids loops and excessively long waiting times.
• To design informative brochures for dis- tribution in educational centers aimed to youths and parents, immigrant associa- tions, youth centers, etc., so that youths and families from the locality receive them.
• To design informative websites to dissem- inate information about SRH, STI and prevention methods, so that youths have access to quality information and they can make use of it.
• To make visible SRH attention centers and bring them closer to the youth by outreach campaigns, which can be disseminated from the educational centers, primary care practice centers, local organizations and au- thorities. These must be nearby and partici- pative services.
• The coordination and networking between health centers, educational centers and NGOs which work with the youth, in the aim of avoiding duplicated interventions and op- timizing human and material resources.
• To evaluate resources and activities in order to implement improvement actions, and systemically data collection, gathering so evidences of youths’ context and reality.
CER-Migracions (Center for Migration Studies and Research) Autonomous University of Barcelona
With the collaboration of:
